Headcanons (Spoilers)
Aug. 25th, 2013 10:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
crosscompiler Here's an examination of Chihiro's deepest secret, and the implications it has for her identity. Warning: this contains spoilers for the entirety of Dangan Ronpa - if you have plans to read through the story, progress no further!
Chihiro's Gender Identity
(Warning: contains themes of internalized sexism/transphobia, and unhealthy self-image.)
Like most young people growing up, Chihiro doesn't quite have a clear picture of who she wants to be yet. Unlike many people growing up, however, Chihiro's lack of clarity goes deep enough to where she isn't quite sure of her own gender.
Chihiro is biologically male, but was born with a frail body, a gentle nature, and feminine features. Seeing as how, in a patriarchal society, feminine traits are seen as particularly undesirable in men, Chihiro faced constant bullying, and consistently failed to live up to anyone's idea of what a man should be.
To escape the constant harassment, Chihiro began cross-dressing, presenting as a young girl. The already effeminate Chihiro took to this outward presentation so well that not only was the "disguise" almost impenetrable, but it caused Chihiro to be admired by some as an ideal of "moe" cuteness and femininity.
Chihiro the Girl enjoyed the kind of acceptance that Chihiro the Boy never got to experience, and therefore decided to continue presenting as a girl in perpetuity. However, growing up in Japan, Chihiro was never exposed to progressive ideas about gender identity and expression - the idea that one's gender isn't always determined by the body one is born with is not an idea that has a lot of traction in Japanese culture.
Because of this, despite presenting as female without any plans to stop doing so in the foreseeable future, Chihiro self-identifies as male. The guilt of "deceiving" people is something Chihiro struggles with constantly, in addition to a not insubstantial amount of self-loathing over running from a perceived problem of a lack of masculinity.
When I write for Chihiro, the narrative will always refer to her as "she", even if she is alone, or exclusively in the company of people who know her secret - even if those people are actively using male pronouns to refer to her (this is partially to avoid spoiling people who have not played Dangan Ronpa); after all, whatever Chihiro's own identity may be, Chihiro presents herself as female.
The original story of Dangan Ronpa implies two different directions that Chihiro could have matured. At the start of the story, Chihiro is missing two years of memories, during which she became very close friends with her fellow classmates - certainly close enough that it's unlikely her "secret" could have stayed undisclosed to everyone. Photographs of this time period show Chihiro wearing girls' clothes (even a girls' gym uniform), implying that she ultimately decided she was more comfortable as a girl.
After these memories are wiped, however, Chihiro's stressful situation coupled with the threat of her secret being revealed to her classmates prematurely puts pressure on her to confront her reasons for presenting herself as female. She resolves to tell everyone her secret before it's revealed, and to stop using her presentation as a crutch - however, it's unknown whether or not she would have begun to present herself as male, as she was tragically murdered in a fit of insanity by the person she first revealed her secret to - a person who would have otherwise been one of her best friends.
The students vary in how they refer to Chihiro from that point on, using a mixture of male and female pronouns. The issue is not ultimately resolved in any direction, even after Chihiro is posthumously spoken for by her A.I. counterpart, Alter Ego, who is a genderless computer program that never brings up the issue, or even refers to Chihiro with definitively gendered language.
So, the question remains - who is Chihiro Fujisaki? Is she a girl, born in a "male" body? Is she a boy, wearing a dress to deflect judgment? Is she male, female, both, or neither? Her life is tragically cut short before she can find the answers.
Being taken to Wonderland mere hours before what would have been her death gives Chihiro a new chance to finally figure herself out. While I am personally fond of the idea that she finds peace as a male-to-female transgender person, or that she learns to accept both her masculine and feminine sides and becomes gender-fluid, ultimately Chihiro's experiences and relationships will prove the biggest factor in how she resolves the question of who she is.
I am not transgender, and I don't make any claim of being able to speak for transgender people or accurately portray the experiences of transgender, gender-fluid, or non-binary people - if there's anything I do that would make you uncomfortable because of this, please don't hesitate to let me know.
I also acknowledge that this interpretation of Chihiro's character is my own, and will not necessarily line up with your interpretation of Chihiro's gender issues or even the intentions of the original Dangan Ronpa authors. I've done my best to stay true to Chihiro's personality; while Chihiro's gender issues are a large part of her character, they by no means define her as a person, and I hope that my portrayal of her is otherwise accurate, even if we disagree on this particular point.
Chihiro's Gender Identity
(Warning: contains themes of internalized sexism/transphobia, and unhealthy self-image.)
Like most young people growing up, Chihiro doesn't quite have a clear picture of who she wants to be yet. Unlike many people growing up, however, Chihiro's lack of clarity goes deep enough to where she isn't quite sure of her own gender.
Chihiro is biologically male, but was born with a frail body, a gentle nature, and feminine features. Seeing as how, in a patriarchal society, feminine traits are seen as particularly undesirable in men, Chihiro faced constant bullying, and consistently failed to live up to anyone's idea of what a man should be.
To escape the constant harassment, Chihiro began cross-dressing, presenting as a young girl. The already effeminate Chihiro took to this outward presentation so well that not only was the "disguise" almost impenetrable, but it caused Chihiro to be admired by some as an ideal of "moe" cuteness and femininity.
Chihiro the Girl enjoyed the kind of acceptance that Chihiro the Boy never got to experience, and therefore decided to continue presenting as a girl in perpetuity. However, growing up in Japan, Chihiro was never exposed to progressive ideas about gender identity and expression - the idea that one's gender isn't always determined by the body one is born with is not an idea that has a lot of traction in Japanese culture.
Because of this, despite presenting as female without any plans to stop doing so in the foreseeable future, Chihiro self-identifies as male. The guilt of "deceiving" people is something Chihiro struggles with constantly, in addition to a not insubstantial amount of self-loathing over running from a perceived problem of a lack of masculinity.
When I write for Chihiro, the narrative will always refer to her as "she", even if she is alone, or exclusively in the company of people who know her secret - even if those people are actively using male pronouns to refer to her (this is partially to avoid spoiling people who have not played Dangan Ronpa); after all, whatever Chihiro's own identity may be, Chihiro presents herself as female.
The original story of Dangan Ronpa implies two different directions that Chihiro could have matured. At the start of the story, Chihiro is missing two years of memories, during which she became very close friends with her fellow classmates - certainly close enough that it's unlikely her "secret" could have stayed undisclosed to everyone. Photographs of this time period show Chihiro wearing girls' clothes (even a girls' gym uniform), implying that she ultimately decided she was more comfortable as a girl.
After these memories are wiped, however, Chihiro's stressful situation coupled with the threat of her secret being revealed to her classmates prematurely puts pressure on her to confront her reasons for presenting herself as female. She resolves to tell everyone her secret before it's revealed, and to stop using her presentation as a crutch - however, it's unknown whether or not she would have begun to present herself as male, as she was tragically murdered in a fit of insanity by the person she first revealed her secret to - a person who would have otherwise been one of her best friends.
The students vary in how they refer to Chihiro from that point on, using a mixture of male and female pronouns. The issue is not ultimately resolved in any direction, even after Chihiro is posthumously spoken for by her A.I. counterpart, Alter Ego, who is a genderless computer program that never brings up the issue, or even refers to Chihiro with definitively gendered language.
So, the question remains - who is Chihiro Fujisaki? Is she a girl, born in a "male" body? Is she a boy, wearing a dress to deflect judgment? Is she male, female, both, or neither? Her life is tragically cut short before she can find the answers.
Being taken to Wonderland mere hours before what would have been her death gives Chihiro a new chance to finally figure herself out. While I am personally fond of the idea that she finds peace as a male-to-female transgender person, or that she learns to accept both her masculine and feminine sides and becomes gender-fluid, ultimately Chihiro's experiences and relationships will prove the biggest factor in how she resolves the question of who she is.
I am not transgender, and I don't make any claim of being able to speak for transgender people or accurately portray the experiences of transgender, gender-fluid, or non-binary people - if there's anything I do that would make you uncomfortable because of this, please don't hesitate to let me know.
I also acknowledge that this interpretation of Chihiro's character is my own, and will not necessarily line up with your interpretation of Chihiro's gender issues or even the intentions of the original Dangan Ronpa authors. I've done my best to stay true to Chihiro's personality; while Chihiro's gender issues are a large part of her character, they by no means define her as a person, and I hope that my portrayal of her is otherwise accurate, even if we disagree on this particular point.
